Florida politics, policy, and plain-spoken analysis by Gary Fineout.

Web/Tech

January 07, 2016

It's only been a few short months since the start of football season - which is what helped bring the ever-expanding world of daily fantasy sports into the spotlight.

Now with the Super Bowl right around the corner - and a new legislative session about to commence - one key question remains:

What, if anything, does Attorney General Pam Bondi plan to do about the murky legality surrounding fantasy sports in Florida.

Let's scroll back.

It was back during the summer that the big players in daily fantasy - FanDuel and DraftKings _ started hiring lobbyists in Tallahassee as the same time they were starting a huge national ad campaign. Their moves came as a legal theory began to emerge that fantasy sports - the idea of selecting players in various sports and winning money based on their performance - was not allowed under Florida law.

This theory - which has been explored by South Florida attorney Daniel Wallach and further expanded in a paper penned by Wallach and Tallahassee attorney/lobbyist Marc Dunbar- says a key impediment is a 1991 opinion authored by then-Attorney General BobButterworth that concluded spending $100 on a season-long fantasy football team was illegal gambling.

Move to Florida and there are apparent signs of some prosecutors getting involved, namely that U.S. Attorney Lee Bentley in Tampa has reportedly launched his own investigation according to Wallach and others. There are also civil lawsuits being filed. And there was a key development in that arena when Law360 reported earlier this week that State Attorney Bernie McCabe has taken an interest in the issue.

McCabe, whose jurisdiction includes Pasco and Pinellas counties, filed a memo supporting an effort to remand the case against FanDuel and DraftKings back into state court because he asserted that the state was in fact the "real party of interest" in this case.

But it's hard to pin Bondi or her office down on how the state's top legal officer (and whose office houses the statewide prosecutor) views the evolving situation even as other law-enforcement officials take action.

Bondi has said she still supports the 1991 Butterworth opinion and has made no moves to rescind it or repeal it. But beyond that Bondi and her office continue to defer questions.

"Our office engaged in extensive discussions with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and we both agreed the matter should be handled federally,'' said Bondi spokesman Whitney Ray late last year "Also, our office is in regular contact with U.S. Attorney Lee Bentley, and we have full confidence that the U.S. Attorney's Office will handle the matter appropriately."

(It's worth pointing out that even though the Negron and Gaetz bills directly affect his agency, Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam has also not been exactly clear whether he's a fan or not of either version.)

The big giants in the fantasy sports industry are being primarily represented in Florida by mega-lobbyist Brian Ballard and his firm. Ballard is of course a big-time fundraiser who is now supporting Marco Rubio for president and also lobbies on behalf of Donald Trump.

But late last August one of the other lobbyists who signed up to represent the fantasy companies was well-known GOP consultant Marc Reichelderfer. He is friends with Bondi and has done campaign work on her behalf.

When asked about it directly last fall, Bondi said she was unaware that Reichelderfer had begun representing the fantasy sports industry.

Bondi during her five-year stint in office been very selective about what issues she will - or won't - engage in.

She once took a stance against casino gambling, but yet other times she has refused to take a position on bills even if they directly impact her agency operations. Bondi is also as of now remaining fairly quiet about what she thinks about the $3 billion compact negotiated between Gov. Rick Scott and the tribe (and which could allow a new casino in South Florida.)

With another session dawning, it will be interesting to watch whether or not the state's top legal officer weighs in on the various legal issues that surrounding gambling or gaming. Or if she will remain in a neutral (and silent) corner.

(This post has been updated to note that FanDuel is expanding its workforce in Florida.)

March 31, 2014

Adam Hollingsworth, the chief of staff for Gov. Rick Scott and one of the most important people in Scott's inner circle, doesn't really use email for official business.

A random check of his official emails show that Hollingsworth routinely uses his Outlook account to schedule meetings and perform some of the management functions - such as signing on performance reviews - of his staff.

But texting?

On the very least it looks like at one point of time that some official business was done through texts.

But recent emails and messages would suggest that the Executive Office of the Governor has adopted an official policy to discourage the use of text messages.

Consider this Jan. 10 text from Hollingsworth: "EOG staff does not conduct public businss via test messaging. You may contact me at 850-488-5603 or adam.hollingsworth@eog.myflorida.com."

An Feb. 10 an email from Dawn Hanson, director of administration for EOG, that was eventually forwarded to newly-installed budget director Cynthia Kelly states: "The COS has a no texting policy for the EOG. This practice has been in place for quite awhile and we are in the process of actually turning off the texting features on state phones."

When asked this past week, however, Frank Collins, a spokesman for Scott, said no such policy was in place.

Now all of this comes amid an ongoing public records lawsuit against Scott and other top state officials. The lawsuit filed by Tallahassee attorney Steven Andrews - a persistent critic of Scott - contends that that state officials are flouting the state's public records law. One example is that it took Andrews more than a year to get three months worth of text messages from a former top aide to Scott.

But Scott's Office of Open Government has turned over text messages made by Hollingsworth over the last several months that show that lobbyists and other elected officials would occasionally reach out to Scott's right-hand man via text message.

These texts touch on issues such as Scott's search for a lieutenant governor, appointments and legislative issues that have become debated during the 2014 session.

"Adam, would the governor support in state tuition for us citizens? It's great PR for Hispanic voters and the students are voters. The fix is simple language adding ''or the last two years in a Florida high school."

A second text states: "Nothing to so with illegal immigrants." Hollingsworth asks if he can call Artiles back about the issue.

(Since this time, Scott has come out in favor of a bill that in fact allows children who came to the United States illegally to receive in-state tuition. But Scott's support is because the Senate version includes his push to get rid of a state law that lets state universities charge tuition above the amount set annually by the Legislature.)

An Oct. 9 text message from Gaston Cantens, a former state legislator who now works for Florida Crystals, states: "Any word on the 3rd DCA apptment? I'm hearing this will be the third hispanic judge to retire from 3rd dca under scott and replaced by anglos." (On Oct. 18 Scott appointed Edwin Scales, a Key West attorney, radio host and former politician and a member of the Florida Bar of Governors to the court. He replaced Judge Angel Cortinas. It would appear that Scales was the second, not third, person appointed by Scott to replace a Hispanic. Scott appointed Cuban-born Ivan Fernandez in 2011 to the court.)

Sept. 18 text from Rep. Marti Coley: "Any news on a Liberty Co. Superintendent? The suspense about the Liberty County Superintendent is killing me."

Randy Miller with the Florida Retail Federation on Sept. 17 of last year wrote: "Enjoyed our tax relief suggestions meeting the other day. The only way to get tax relief directly to Joe Lunchbucket is through sales tax holidays. Expanding the Back to School Holiday from 3 days to 9 days would be a big hit with soccer moms and parents of all stripes. For those without school children, you could institute an Energy-Star Holiday which would have multiple benefits, savings on utility bills and environmental benefits...Great PR for Gov if he pushes this in his budget."

Newly-elected Rep. Mike Hill sent a message to Scott via text through Hollingsworth, telling him on Sept. 4 that "really liked' the governor's tax-cutting speech at Americans For Prosperity and that "it would be an honor for me to carry a tax/fee cutting bill for you."

On the issue of a search for LG there were several, including one from Hillsborough County Commissioner Sandra Murman, who on the short-list at one time.

Murman on Nov. 8: "Hi Adam. Thank you again for coming to Tampa to interview me. I am honored to be considred for the Governor' dynamic team."

A few weeks later hospital executive and former top Jeb Bush aide Alan Levine texted: "Sandy Murman called me Monday. Will call u tomorrow to download. Have you considered Susan Latvala? Squishy R from Pinellas. Happy Thanksgiving!!!"(Latvala, a Pinellas County Commissioner, wound up endorsing Democrat Alex Sink in the battle to replace the late U.S. Rep. Bill Young.)

On Jan. 14 the day that Scott announced the appointment of Carlos Lopez-Cantera as his LG Allan Bense texted Hollingsworth: "Brilliant move today." Bense, the former House speaker, is chairman of the Florida State University board and father-in-law of current speaker WillWeatherford.

March 20, 2010

As noted in a previous post, there is a bit of speculation going on about how important using social media and new media methods will matter in the 2010 elections.

The use of new media gave President Barack Obama an effective tool during the 2008 elections.

So by the numbers, how is it going in the Florida governor's race?

Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink has more than 9,500 Facebook fans and has more than 2,800 followers on Twitter. She has posted six videos to her YouTube channel over the last 10 months, including a sarcastic one that was done by having a Sink staffer videotape McCollum while talking to reporters.

Attorney General Bill McCollum by contrast has 3,660 Facebook fans and more than 3,000 followers on Twitter. He has six videos on his YouTube channel.

It's worth noting, however, that McCollum has been much more prolific on Twitter. He has posted nearly 270 tweets to Sink's 63 tweets.

A scholarly political science journal concluded way, way back in 2008 that effective campaigns could find a successful strategy by going after not just the motivated supervoters, but by also targeting those who don't normally vote in every election.

A quartet of political science professors writing in the March 2008 issue of Political Behavior said that "we conclude that even in high-profile, high dollar races the most important determinant of voter turnout is voter history, but that holding this variable constant reveals a positive effect for campaign communication among "seldom voters," registered but rarely active participants who-ironically- are less likely than regular or intermittent voters to receive such communication.

"In fact, we find that those with the least active political pasts are the most likely to feel the positive effects of campaign communication,'' the article written by Professors Janine Parry, Jay Barth, Martha Kropf and E. Terrence Jones.

Put simply: It helps to reach out to voters who aren't used to the attention.

There is ample evidence that this theory played itself out in the 2008 presidential campaign especially among the campaign team of Barack Obama as it utilized everything from text messages to social media to raise large amounts of money and to motivate voters, including some of those "seldom voters" like young people and African-Americans.

The Obama strategy has been followed to some extent, according to a November 2009 Wall Street Journal article written by Peter Wallsten, by Republican gubernatorial candidates who won elections last fall.

Steve Schale, the Florida state director for the Obama campaign, said that "we used every tool that was available" including even using ads on Internet videogames as a way to target college students.

But Schale said in the end he still thinks that what social media and the Internet did was make it easier to motivate people to help out the campaigns, citing for instance a program used by the campaign that would encourage volunteers to go and physically contact voters in their own neighborhoods.

"You utilize them to do the things that traditionally win campaigns,'' said Schale, adding that "banging on someone's door" can be just as effective as a candidate appearing on television. Schale adds that it also helps to have people enthused about the candidate they are working for.

Rubio - who has surged past Gov. Charlie Crist in the polls for the U.S. Senate - has more than 10,000 followers on Twitter and has more than 36,000 fans on his Facebook page. Rubio has posted more than 110 videos on his YouTube page, with some videos getting more than 43,000 views.

Crist by contrast has 4,559 followers on Twitter and 9,203 fans on his Facebook page. His campaign has posted 35 videos on YouTube, with no video even getting 600 views.

But Schale is one person who doesn't think that Rubio's success is just about his utilization of media.

He contends that Rubio is succeeding because he has plugged into a frustration among conservative voters and used it against Crist.

"It's not a field of dreams and build it and they will come,'' said Schale. "If you put the Yankees on the field you are going to have a good team."

Schale adds: "I don't think we have gotten to the point where you can create that kind of movement from social media out of whole cloth."

There are those, of course, who disagree to some extent with Schale. But if Rubio wins in the primary against Crist it will be interesting to see if it is the media or the message that gets the credit.